So far, all is well. While in my backpack, it has had 15 lbs worth of gear on it, and the plastic is still in good shape.

The unit has never overheated, and the fan is not loud at all. (I am very picky about having a quiet PC.)

The keyboard is not cramped, and the battery life is good. I did pick up a different mouse because I do not like using the touch pad.

Every computer I have runs Linux, which means I need a manufacturer who supports that operating system. (ASUS’ website lists computers compatible with Fedora, Open Suse, RedHat, and Ubuntu.)

My laptop does. It boots Linux and Windows without an issue. I use Linux 90 percent of the time and have not came across any hardware compatibility issues. The X551M has been reliable.

Although I use Linux most of the time, I still needed a backup of the Windows operating system in case I needed to reinstall. The X551M does not come with a recovery disk.

I had to buy an additional flash drive and create a backup. For me, this was not an issue. For somebody who does not know this, it could mean the difference between having a working computer and a paperweight. I thought I would make note of it.

History lesson

ASUS was founded in 1990 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.

They offer a plethora of electronical equipment, from PC parts and accessories to notebooks to smartphones.